Inductee Details

Louis "Lou" Lamoriello

(1942-) ~ Inducted 2004

Louis A. Lamoriello is the president and general manager of the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL).

After attending LaSalle Academy, Lamoriello graduated from Providence College in 1963.He earned varsity letters in baseball and hockey and served each team as captain during his senior year. Following graduation, he taught math at Johnston High School for several years, ending in the early 1970s. In 1968, Lou became the head coach of the Providence College men's ice hockey team. He was named athletic director in 1982. During the 1982–83 season, the Friars were had the best record in the nation that year and appeared in the Frozen Four for the first time since 1964. Lamoriello resigned as head coach the following year. As athletic director, he hired Rick Pitino as the head coach of the men's basketball team, who went on to take Providence to the Final Four in 1987.

In July 1983, Lou joined his fellow athletic directors at Boston College, Boston University, New Hampshire, and Northeastern in forming the Hockey East Association. He helped to produce an interlocking schedule agreement with the Western Collegiate Hockey Association and negotiated the first television package in college hockey. He was the first commissioner of Hockey East and the conference championship trophy was named in his honor. A permanent trophy was commissioned and presented at the 1999 championship.

On April 30, 1987, Lou resigned as Hockey East commissioner and as athletic director at Providence to become president of the NHL's New Jersey Devils where he went on to more success and recognition. In 1992, Lou was awarded the Lester Patrick Trophy for outstanding service to hockey in the United States. He also served as general manager for the gold-medal winning Team USA in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and the 1998 Winter Olympics.

In addition to the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame, Lou is also a member of the Providence College Athletic Hall of Fame and the United States Hockey Hall of Fame.